Category Archives: Sports

COMPETITIVE KNITTING.

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Philip

COMPETITIVE KNITTING. An article by Chris Irvine in the Telegraph (November 1) reported that: “Norway’s public broadcaster on Friday aired a marathon exploration of the world of knitting in an attempt to beat the world ‘sheep to sweater’ record.” The … Continue reading →

Posted in Sports, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

NONFICTION VERSUS FICTION—42.

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Philip

NONFICTION VERSUS FICTION—42. It makes a big difference whether we are reading fiction or nonfiction. Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times (September 12) reviewed 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson’s becoming the first black major league baseball player since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, History, Sports | 1 Comment

BILL DEWITT AND BASEBALL HISTORY.

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Philip

BILL DEWITT AND BASEBALL HISTORY. Tyler Kepner had a pleasing article in the New York Times (October 25) which traced a lot of baseball history in the life of one man. Bill DeWitt, Jr., is the owner of the Saint … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Sports | 5 Comments

NICHOLS AND MAY AND THE RHODE ISLAND ACCENT.

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Philip

NICHOLS AND MAY AND THE RHODE ISLAND ACCENT. Back in the sixties, when I was watching Boston Red Sox games, Naragansett Beer, brewed in Cranston, Rhode Island, had wonderful animated commercials between innings which were voiced by Mike Nichols and … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 1 Comment

ADOPTING COLLEGE RULES ON BASEBALL COLLISIONS.

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Philip

ADOPTING COLLEGE RULES ON BASEBALL COLLISIONS. I have argued in several posts, including here, that, in order to reduce collisions at home plate, catchers should not be allowed to block the plate. Rob Neyer takes the same position in this … Continue reading →

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INSTANT REPLAY AND PHANTOM DOUBLE PLAYS.

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Philip

INSTANT REPLAY AND PHANTOM DOUBLE PLAYS. In this post from August, I speculated that when baseball adopts instant replay, it will change the “neighborhood play” on double plays at second base. This article by Jeff Passan features a video of … Continue reading →

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NEW SUCCESS FOR MONEYBALL.

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Philip

NEW SUCCESS FOR MONEYBALL. MONEYBALL—the Michael Lewis book and the Brad Pitt movie—recounted how Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics had applied statistical principles from sabermetrics to achieve baseball success even though Oakland had a much smaller … Continue reading →

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HOW IMPORTANT IS STRENGTHENING A WEAKNESS?

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Philip

HOW IMPORTANT IS STRENGTHENING A WEAKNESS? Anderson and Sally conclude that a soccer team’s performance is more affected by its weakest link than by its strongest. A soccer team should focus on reinforcing its poorest positions. This kind of question … Continue reading →

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IS THERE MORE LUCK IN SOCCER THAN IN OTHER SPORTS?

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Philip

IS THERE MORE LUCK IN SOCCER THAN IN OTHER SPORTS? In the September 6 TLS, David Goldblatt reviewed a book which, in the MONEYBALL tradition, applies statistics to football (soccer): THE NUMBERS GAME by Chris Anderson and David Sally. Anderson … Continue reading →

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THE PHYSICS OF COW TIPPING.

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Philip

THE PHYSICS OF COW TIPPING. Swearingen also reports on what physics says about the problem of tipping a 1400 pound cow. And a cow which can step to the side to resist toppling over. He includes a diagram and calculations … Continue reading →

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